A quickie with... Ricky Whittle
Shadow Moon is a massive, much-loved character to take on…
Fans have been chomping at the bit to have an adaptation, so there’s a lot of pressure to portray the Shadow Moon they’ve dreamt about for 15 years. It’s going to follow the book but, as an adaptation, it needs to be jazzed up a bit. Shadow Moon in the book is very stoic and internalised. No one wants to see a guy think every week, so he’s more outspoken in this.
What’s it like working with the legend that is Lovejoy?
Ian Mcshane’s hilarious and so much fun. The first time we met, we found out we both support Man United and just hit it off straight away. That translates to screen, which is perfect because it’s a buddy story. It’s two guys traveling around America.
And you get to work with Gillian Anderson, too…
It took all my strength to not call her Scully. I used to have a crush on her in The X Files. She’s an incredible actress and does an incredible job as Media. It’s quite possibly, in my opinion, the best ensemble cast I’ve seen on TV.
Was the epic bloody fight in the first episode hard to film?
Throwing a 6ft 5in alcoholic leprechaun was tough. Pablo Schreiber [Mad Sweeney] is a big guy. We shot it for the whole day, then had the next morning off because our bodies were in agony.
Writer Bryan Fuller’s previous show Hannibal was full of sex, violence and nudity – will this match up?
I did sign something that means people might see my buttocks – and when I say might, you will! There’s definitely a dark undertone, but, as with Hannibal, you have these black-humour elements where you find yourself laughing at your dead wife coming back to haunt you. It’s not funny, but it is a little bit.
What is the most extreme thing you’ve had to do for this?
Getting my bum out was one of the most extreme. As beautiful as Emily Browning is, and as close as we’ve got, maybe I got too close.